Mayo footballers pull out of October New York GAA fixture

National Collegiate Gaelic Athletic Association selected the Big Apple due to facilities and their enthusiasm for GAASportsfile / GAA

The Mayo county board have announced that they will not fulfill their FBD league final fixture in New York on October 7 next.

The Mayo County Board stated that fixture congestion and player unavailability was to blame. The team contested the All-Ireland final and lost to Donegal.

A statement from the board read: "Our involvement in the FBD league final, the abandoned national league game against Dublin and the re-fixture, the national league semi final and final, as well as our involvement in the All Ireland football final last week has had a major impact on club fixtures.

"In order to ensure the involvement of Mayo clubs in the Connacht club championships, we have had to reschedule our senior and intermediate football championship semi finals and ten of our present panel are involved in these games."

The statement continued: "Three of our present panel have also played for other teams in the FBD league and are therefore unavailable to play for Mayo. A further ten players are unavailable to travel due to family and work commitments, which is understandable after their commitment over the last nine months.

“We realise the time and effort that the Connacht Council and the New York County Board have put into arranging this fixture, and it is with the deepest regret that we have had to take this decision."